


Calling In

by Red_Seraphim



Category: Hotel Dusk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 02:56:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4331148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Seraphim/pseuds/Red_Seraphim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyle has those dreams again...whose he gonna call?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Calling In

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friend Lizzy for suggesting I get Hotel Dusk, and whose conversation inspired me to write this fic at all.
> 
> Any feedback would be appreciated!

I woke half-way to sitting up in bed. There was a sliver of moonlight that greeted me as he sat, like a familiar bartender as I trying to get my breath back. Despite the cool evening, I was sweating like I had fallen asleep in my car on gas-station asphalt.

Part of my mind knew I was sitting in a hotel bed in the middle of the night, staring at the wall. Other parts of my mind, however, were feeling the heat of the setting sun on my face, the smell of the docks, the creaking planks beneath my feet.

The weight of the piece in my hand.

I lifted my hand and looked at it in the dim light. I kept thinking that my finger would twitch, and that the piece that I was feeling, but didn't see, would fire, deafen me for that long moment, blind me with the flash.

My other hand reached for the phone. I don't remember thinking I was going to call anyone. Felt I just did it on instinct. I was trying to keep my mind on simple tasks - dial, lift the phone, bring it close wait. Wait.

I heard the receiver click. A woman's voice.

"Red Crown, this is Rachel."

I sat for a second in the silence that came after. I knew I was supposed to say something.

"Hello?" she said again.

"Uh, hi, this is Hyde. DIdn't expect you to be there still."

Her tone sounded amused. "Oh, hello Kyle. Well, it's only 12:45. Do you not have an alarm clock in the room?"

I did, as a matter of fact, but I was still seeing boat rope instead of a nightstand. "Didn't notice," I answered.

"You alright, sweetie? You sound sort of ragged."

I realized I was still panting into the receiver. '...Just had some trouble sleeping."

"Sorry to hear that. You need a second to get some water?"

I glanced at the pitcher and glasses of water on the coffee table in the corner of the room. It could only have been a few feet, but the distance seemed to stretch as I gauged it.

I coughed to try to help my voice. "I'm fine for the moment."

"Okay. So what did you call for? You checked in already when you got to your room. Did you need me to tell Ed something?"

Last thing I needed to have happen was Ed to know I was actually losing sleep over Bradley. "No no, that's not what I called about," I replied, a little too quickly.

"Mm. Did you call to tell me about a dream?"

Even less of what I wanted to talk about. "How was your day?"

There was a pause. "I expected you to dodge the question, but not quite like that. It was alright."

"Yeah? Things going alright with work? Ed not being too over the top with the workload?"

"No, Ed's not a problem," she answered me. And then I noticed it. She had a tired tone, the intonation all leaning heavily on the fact that  _Ed_ wasn't being a problem.

Meant something else was.

"What's up?"

"What's that, sweetie?"

"You still sound like something's bothering. you. I don't think you'd lie to me about Ed, so is someone else bothering you?"

"Well..." I heard through the receiver. There was a quiet settling, like something being put on a table. She must've leaned forward, maybe on her elbows.

"I got hit on today."

The sentence sort of hung in the air a moment. I recalled when I shared a drink with Rachel - a rare occasion because I never like to drink with anyone, especially not women who make me think I've seen them in a movie before. But I didn't feel that weird air with Rachel; she didn't make me feel like each phrase was trying to lead to touching and kissing and sticking, hot breath. We had both just sat, looked, and listened. Sometimes we even picked up a conversation ourselves. I didn't feel like I was being questioned, or like she was trying to lead me to 'a place more private'.

It was nice.

"Who hit on you?"

"Dave, from my carpool."

"Oh jeez, that sleazebag?"

"Yep. Just caught my hand before he headed in and started going on about how he loved to see the sun against my face or in my hair or whatever."

I rolled my eyes to the dark. "God that sounds awful."

"Tell me about it. Took a few tries to interrupt him to get through his skull that I wasn't interested."

 "I still have to figure out how to explain that."

"Oh? Have some ladies trying to get you a drink?" Her tone changed. Although we were both uncomfortable with it, Rachel liked to tease me a bit about my 'lady problems'.

"They never even bother with that. They just ask to drink with me and sit down and it makes it so much worse to say 'no dammit leave me alone'. They think you have a problem or something."

"Most men don't consider turning down attractive women to be 'a problem'. Hell, from the way they talk 'round the office I don't think they even consider the possibility."

I made a face. "Ugh. I don't want to think about what they think about. Are you still going to drive Dave?"

"I made it clear that if he brought it up again he could walk for all I cared."

That made me laugh. As I did, it occured to me that it was late at night, in a hotel room. People might have been trying to sleep.

But all that occurred to me was that all I was seeing and hearing and feeling was the dark of the room, the passing cars on the highway, and the phone receiver against my face.

"Alright, Kyle, you should get some sleep. And stop laughing, before you get noise complaints," Rachel said. She sounded like she was smiling.

"Alright, Rachel. Tell Ed to let you go home soon. You shouldn't be there late enough to answer my calls at this hour."

"I'm glad I am though. Goodnight, sweetie."

"Goodnight," I said, and put the receiver down, roll over, trying to remember for the morning that I should stop by a rest stop and buy her a knick-knack or something. Her desk was always so clean, I was sure she could find a place for a snow-globe or something...


End file.
